Leg health assessment days facilitating undergraduate training and population

LEG HEALTH ASSESSMENT DAYS Facilitating undergraduate training and population empowerment Leanne Atkin, Lecturer practitoner/Vascular Nurse Specialist University of Huddersfield L.atkin@hud.ac.uk Matthew Rothwell, Senior Lecturer in Podiatry The University of Huddersfield Podiatric Surgical Trainee Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust m.j.rothwell@hud.ac.uk John Stephenson, Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Statistics School of Human and Health Sciences University of Huddersfield J.Stephenson@hud.ac.uk Leg assessment days • Leg health assessment days have taken place with industry support since 2011 • Members of the public are invited via local press to attend a leg health assessment • The assessment is carried out by podiatry undergraduates, supported by practising clinicians • The holistic assessment incorporates: medical history, presenting compliant, limb assessment • Assessment results are communicated with the individual and any necessary early intervention is recommended, such as lifestyle advice, skin care, provision of hosiery, or instructions to visit the General Practitioner Aim of evaluation • To illustrate the benefits of working in partnership with clinicans, academics and industry to improve undergraduate clinical skills • To promote leg health amongst the local population Methods • Collection of patient demographic information including symptom history and whether patient had accessed a health practitioner about their legs previously • Patient feedback questionnaire • Student feedback questionnaire Demographics: Age of participants Age distribution of males and females Median ages are quite similar but there are a few more younger males and older females Length of symptoms Over half of patient respondents (22; 55.0%) had experienced problems with their legs for more than years, of these 17 had seen an Health Care Practitioner The remainder is approximately equally distributed between those with problems for less than months, and those with problems for between months and years Most respondents had seen a health care practitioner: in most cases a General Practitioner Previous recommendations A variety of recommendations had been made by respondents’ practitioners; with compression therapy being the most common Skin care/emollients and exercise were also recommended to a number of respondents Presenting compliant • Varicose veins = most common reason • Other reasons included skin conditions, gait issues, ulceration or assessing health screening Diagnosis • Muscular Skeletal = most common diagnosis • Varicose veins = second highest – symptomatic and asymptomatic in similar numbers • Oedema = main diagnosis in patients • Others included potential skin cancers, PAD, eczema Participant/student feedback results Participant feedback – how they scored the assessment • The score is the sum of responses to all items, with the most negative response being given a score of and the most positive response being given a score of • The graph is highly skewed, with many more people scoring the day positively than negatively, including who gave it the maximum of 35 out of 35 Participant feedback Uniformly positive… • 100% reported that they felt they had been listened to, been adequately assessed, and would recommend others to attend similar days • Most respondents rated the clarity of the information provided to be “very clear” • Most respondents rated their satisfaction of the service they received to be “very satisfied” Student feedback Overall student perceptions were strongly positive… • Over half of the students strongly agreed that their learning was enhanced by the contributions of other professions • Almost all students agreed that the session had increased their understanding of how professions work for patient benefit • A similar distribution of responses to the statement ‘improved insight into the roles of other professions’ Student perception A total score was derived for all students; representing a measure of the students’ overall perception of the effectiveness of the day This measure was calculated to be the sum of scores obtained on individual items; using the coding: Strongly agree = 5; Agree = 4; Neither agree nor disagree = 3; Disagree = 2; Strongly disagree = Coding was not required for the Don’t know option as this was not selected by any respondent Discussion The benefits for the undergraduate practitioner: • Develop assessment skills under supervision • Understand appropriate referral pathways for those requiring medical input • Appreciate the need and the clinical benefits of early intervention for venous/lymphatic insuffiency The benefits for the participant: • The process of self referral facilitates empowerment • Promotes self care • Individuals feel listened to and supported • Prevents disease progression and, potentially, the development of further complications • Facilitates timely specialist referral in cases requiring prompt review Thank You Questions? EWMA Conference, London 2015 • This presentation was supported by an educational grant from Activa Healthcare Activa Healthcare is part of the Lohmann & Rauscher Group M1540 V1.1 .. .Leg assessment days • Leg health assessment days have taken place with industry support since 2011 • Members of the public are invited via local press to attend a leg health assessment. .. academics and industry to improve undergraduate clinical skills • To promote leg health amongst the local population Methods • Collection of patient demographic information including symptom history and. .. The assessment is carried out by podiatry undergraduates, supported by practising clinicians • The holistic assessment incorporates: medical history, presenting compliant, limb assessment • Assessment